Father-daughter transplant duo speak out for organ donation

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Organ donations save lives, but donations from living donors are even more successful. A Philadelphia father and daughter who just went through a transplant are making it their mission to get others on board.

"I love all the cheesesteaks, loaded fries, the Herrs, the TastyKakes, all of that," says Acia Gay.

But Gay, a self-described 'Philly guy', says unhealthy living overtaxed his body.

"One kidney not working, and the other was working at 11%," he was told a few years back, when a routine doctor visit found signs his kidneys were failing.

He went on home dialysis in 2023. It kept him going, but stole his social life, family time, and mental health.

"I went to work and came home to a machine, from a machine to work," he remembers vividly. I started becoming down and out, depressed, distancing myself from my family," he says. "Summertime, when it's sunny out and I'm getting on a machine, and I'm looking out the window, watching the kids play while I'm on a machine."

Abdominal transplant chief Kenneth Chavin of Temple Health says getting a cadaver kidney can now take four to seven years. A living donor means a transplant sooner and slightly better long-term survival for the recipient.

"The time that the kidney is without blood is much shorter from going from one operating room into the next," Dr. Chavin says.

He says about half of Temple's kidney transplants are now living donations. The minimum age is 18, but there is no maximum.

"We have people who step forward and are in their early to mid-70s," he notes.

Potential donors undergo extensive tests to make sure they're healthy for the surgery and to live with one kidney.

Donors don't need to be related to the person in need. If they aren't a good match here, they can be part of a paired exchange.

"Your donor's kidney may go somewhere else and a kidney comes back to you," he explains.

It turned out Acia's oldest child, Antoinett McNear, was a perfect match. She didn't hesitate to offer a kidney and created a video journal to document the experience for the family and others.

"It was my duty as me being the first born to be the Super Hero for the family," she offers.

To be able to give up such a precious gift while also spreading the word and educating others means a lot to the public health care professional.

Acia did have a detour on the way to the transplant, when doctors discovered serious heart problems. But he solved those, and in the process, lost 100 pounds, putting himself in better health for the surgery.

Following the transplant in early March, Acia is done with dialysis and using his newly restored energy to speak out for organ donation.

"Organs have no race, creed, or color. The organs are doing no one any good once body is pronounced and you're putting them in the ground," he says.

Acia is not only encouraging people to sign up as organ donors but is working to dispel myths which hamper donations in minority communities.

He is taking aim at one myth in particular.

"No, no one's going to come kill you, like everyone's out here. You know, especially in the Black race, say, Oh, someone's going to kill me just to get my organ. Stop that nonsense." he says.